My cinnamon buns are fluffy and delicious, filled with brown sugar and topped with an iced drizzle. They are gluten and dairy free but you honestly would’t know! They do take a little time and patience to make, but they are definitely worth the effort. If you do make my cinnamon bun recipe I’d love to see, don’t forget to tag me in your photos over on social media!
Frequently asked questions:
Which yeast do you use?
I use the Allison’s Easy Bake Yeast which is available in most major UK supermarkets.
Which dairy free milk do you use?
I’ve tested this recipe with almond milk, gluten free oat milk and soy milk. All of these work however I found that gluten free oat milk (Glebe Farm) worked the best.
Which flour do you use?
I tested this recipe with a few different types of gluten free flour but found that the FREEE gluten free white bread flour worked best. If you do not have any of this you could also use the FREE gluten free self raising flour however I did find the bread flour gave a fluffier texture. You will also need to ensure that the flour you use contains xanthan gum, if not add 1/4 tsp to the mixture (The FREEE bread and self raising flour does contain xanthan gum so no need to add any extra).
Top Tips:
-You will need to make sure you follow the resting times of the recipe exactly in order for the buns to rise.
-Use a Baking Thermometer to check the heat of your milk before adding the yeast, the milk will need to be around 39°C in order for the yeast to activate. If you do not have a baking thermometer this feels like warm bath water to touch – you don’t want the water to be too hot otherwise it will kill the yeast, if it is too cold the yeast will not activate.
-Store your buns in an airtight container for 3 days and pop in the microwave for 20 seconds before eating.
Cinnamon buns (gluten and dairy free)
Ingredients
For the cinnamon buns
- 175 ml dairy free milk
- 2 and 1/4 tsp easy bake yeast (I use Allison's)
- 1 medium whisked egg
- 85g + 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 400 g gluten free white bread flour (I use FREEE)
- 50 g melted dairy free butter
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the filling
- 20 g melted (and cooled) dairy free butter
- 90 g light brown sugar (you could also use dark brown)
- 2 tsp cinnamon
Topping
- 100 g icing sugar
- 1 tbsp boiling water
Instructions
- Warm your dairy free milk in the microwave until it reaches around 39°C (I use a cooking thermometer to check this). Add your easy bake yeast and 1 tbsp caster sugar to the warm milk and stir until dissolved. Set aside for 10 minutes until slightly frothy.
- To a separate large bowl add your gluten free bread flour, baking powder and salt and mix until combined. Then add your egg, melted dairy free butter, the rest of the caster sugar and the frothy yeast mixture. Mix well to form a sticky dough.
- Knead your dough until soft. The dough will be sticky but quite elastic and should pull away from the side of the bowl (if the dough is too sticky, add a little extra flour). Form a ball with the dough and add to a well oiled bowl. Cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for an hour.
- After an hour transfer the dough to a floured surface and roll out to form a rectangle that is around 1/4 inch thick.
- Brush with melted butter and sprinkle over a layer of light brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Carefully roll your dough up lengthways, like a swiss roll, to form a cylinder.
- Cut into 10 equal sized rolls and place in a baking tray. Leave in a warm place for another half an hour.
- Pre heat your oven to 180°C. Brush your buns with a little melted butter and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and make your icing by combining your icing sugar and boiling water. Drizzle over the buns and enjoy!
I absolutely love seeing what you’ve created, so if you do make this recipe (or any other recipe from my website) don’t forget to tag me over on my social media pages @glutenfreealice and use the hashtag #glutenfreealice
*Please note, this post contains an affiliate links.
Can I make these with regular dairy milk and butter? Would I need to change anything?
Hi! Yes normal butter and milk would work fine 🙂 Alice x
We made these a few weeks back and about to make again for Easter morning. They turned I perfectly! I use the GF blend recipe from Land o’ Lakes website.
Hi Lindsay, I’m so glad you enjoyed them 🙂 x
The recipe is 😊 I left it to expand longer in the tray than advised but still worked great shame I can’t post my photo